Wintergirls

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Rating: 3.5/5

Pages: 278

Year Published: 2010

Synopsis (From Goodreads): "“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls. “Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another. I am that girl. I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through. I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame."

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit

I want to start off by saying that you shouldn’t read this book if you are struggling with an eating disorder, as it could be triggering. Wintergirls is a novel that follows Lia, in her struggles with anorexia nervosa, in the wake of her ex best friend’s death. Haunted by guilt and secrets, Lia tries to hide her disordered behavior from her family while gaining back the control that she lost while in eating disorder recovery.

Personally I like the book since it shows another perspective of how it can be to be a young adult, since the book focuses more on internal struggles and friendship and family rather than revolving around boys which is a common topic in other contemporary young adult books. Lia is a misunderstood girl, struggling to find her place in her family, in school and in the world. The portrayal of Lia’s eating disorder is somewhat stereotypical, and can from time to time become a bit repetitive, and seem to some extent unrealistic, even though most parts of the book appear to be realistic. What stands out to me is the way that the author uses a poetic but also creative language when telling Lia’s story. She uses different methods such as crossing out words, and using repetition. There are no rules in her way of telling Lia’s story, and the reader keeps drifting between reality and Lia’s world.

The pros with this book are many, for examples highlighting mental illnesses which always needs to be discussed more in society, and not be a topic that is taboo and shied away from. The story encourages recovery since Lia is obviously struggling as she starves herself. The aspect of her eating disorder being portrayed in a stereotypical way is something that affects my perception of the book and that I find problematic. The common eating disorder stereotype is a skinny girl, with a broken family crying as soon as she eats a cupcake, and the book ticks all of the boxes of this common stereotype. Even though the book shows another perspective of the struggles of being a teenager, there is more than one type of eating disorder. Another problem with the book is that many eating disorder sufferers seek out the book to be triggered, rather than non disordered people.

Regardless of the potential negative effects the book can have on people struggling with disorder eating, and the one sided way that eating disorders are portrayed, it is still a book worth reading that can help start conversation about disordered eating instead of glamorize it. Because in the book, Lia’s eating disorder habits are in no way glamorized, instead you can watch as it has torn her family apart and how she is slowly breaking and fading until there’s nothing left of her.

The story is written out of a first person point of view, in the United States from Lia’s point of view. The book absorbs the reader, and one soon feels like Lia, as you devour the novel. For somebody who wants to explore the darker side of young adult contemporary fiction, this is a perfect book to read.